F1 racing guidelines explained

In the United States Grand Prix, Lando Norris was penalised for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while he battled with Verstappen in the latter stages.

There, the McLaren driver was on the outside as his rival went deep on the brakes while defending and left the track on exit, leaving Norris nowhere to go.

A week later in Mexico, the pair again clashed.

With Verstappen on the inside line approaching Turn 4, the Dutchman ran to the far edge of the track on exit, leaving no room for Norris who was forced onto the grass.

Moments later, having fallen behind Norris, he dived up the inside at a non-traditional overtaking place, Turn 7, which forced both drivers to leave the track.

While in the United States, Verstappen went without punishment, the stewards citing racing guidelines as part of their rationale in that decision, in Mexico, he picked up two 10-second penalties – one for each transgression.

Norris, meanwhile, was not punished for leaving the road in Mexico, but he was in Austin, a point McLaren sought to address via its Right of Review.

“Norris was attempting to overtake on the outside of Verstappen at Turn 4,” stewards noted in Mexico.

“Norris was ahead of Verstappen at the entry, apex and towards the exit of the turn when he started being forced off the track.

“The Stewards believe that the maneuver (sic) was done in a safe and controlled manner and that Norris would have been able to make the maneuver (sic) on the track had he not been forced off the track by Verstappen.

“Norris cut the coner (sic) but immediately gave the position he gained as a result back to Sainz (sic).”

The outcome was the first of two 10-second penalties for Verstappen, the standard for such incidents.

“Following the incident in Turn 4, Verstappen attempted to pass Norris on the inside at Turn 8,” read the second infringement notice.

“Verstappen was ahead at the apex of Turn 8 and would have been entitled to racing room.

“However, he was not able to complete the maneuver (sic) on the track, left the track and kept the lasting advantage gaining the position, incidently (sic) forcing Norris off the track.”

Contrast those with the penalty given to Norris in the United States, where officials deemed him the overtaking car on the outside.

“Car 4 was overtaking Car 1 on the outside, but was not level with Car 1 at the apex,” the stewards summary from the United States Grand Prix noted.

“Therefore under the Driving Standards Guidelines, Car 4 had lost the “right” to the corner. Accordingly as Car 4 left the track and returned in front of Car 1, it is deemed to be a case of leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage.”

However, officials did note the impact Verstappen had on the situation, which they used as justification for a reduced five-second penalty.

“A 5 second penalty is imposed instead of the 10 second penalty recommended in the guidelines because having committed to the overtaking move on the outside the driver of Car 4 had little alternative other than to leave the track because of the proximity of Car 1 which had also left the track.”

McLaren’s Right of Review was rejected for a technicality rather than the substance of the petition, which was the team attempting to argue that the interpretation of the Racing Guidelines and the assumption that the Brit was the ‘attacker’ in that battle was wrong.

They argued Norris had completed the pass, and was therefore under attack from Verstappen entering the corner.

Racing Guidelines were first introduced in 2022 over the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and were created “in response to a request from Formula 1 drivers for the FIA to confirm the factors that may be taken into account by the FIA stewards, when decisions are made in relation to certain repeated infringements that occur in the course of a season.”

The guidelines fit in alongside the F1 Sporting Regulations, the Race Director Notes, and International Sporting Code in what is a complex tapestry of judicial documentation.

That original 2022 document was two-pages long and offered guidelines for overtaking on the inside and outside of a corner, and the differences between the two.

Revised for 2023, the latest version of that document was published in February this year. It is structure significantly differently to that first produced in 2022 though contains much of the same detail.

As in 2022, it outlines the responsibilities when it comes to overtaking either on the inside or the outside, but expands on that with chicanes and s-bends too.

A key difference however is that, while once a car needed to have “a significant portion” alongside the car being overtaken, that has been clarified (with emphasis reproduced) to “its front axle AT LEAST ALONGSIDE of the mirror of the other car no later than the apex of the corner.”

For moves up the inside, it adds that the overtaking car must complete the move “Without (deliberately) forcing the other car off the track at the exit. This includes leaving a fair and acceptable width for the car being overtaken from the apex to the exit of the corner.”

One might therefore argue that the practice of squeezing a driver off the road on exit is in breach of the guidelines, though it remains common practice in Formula 1.

The guidelines also include definitions of track limits, impeding, and giving back a lasting advantage.

“If, while defending a position, a car leaves the track (or cuts a chicane) and re-joins in the same position, it will generally be considered by the stewards as having gained a lasting advantage and therefore, generally, the position should be given back, as prescribed in the rules,” the guidelines reveal.

Explanations of how moving on a straight are judged, as well as moving under braking are also absent from the 2022 document but present in the latest version.

On moving on a straight it notes that “moves intended to break the slipstream of a following car when the following car is a safe distance behind, considering relative speeds and position on the track, may be acceptable.”

It then adds: “When defending, there must be no change in direction by the defending car, after the deceleration phase has commenced, except to follow the racing line.”

An appendix to the guidelines outlines that the intent of the document is to standardise the rules of battle across not only one event to the next, but all motorsport events.

“Of key importance to the FIA Drivers Commission is the desire to ensure that the younger drivers in lower categories are subjected to the same standards as will apply when they eventually graduate to the highest levels of the sport,” it declares.

As part of that, there are six key elements it aims to address, namely safe racing, hard and competitive racing, fair racing, sporting justice, consistency across all categories, and standardisation of driving standards and race direction operations across all categories.

“Overtaking should be incentivised and defending a position unfairly or dangerously is not acceptable,” it rationalises.

“It is very important that junior drivers race with the same guidelines as F1. However, less tolerance should be applied because the risk of an accident is higher due to their lesser experience. Being stricter in applying the rules in lower formulas is essential for junior development.”

It’s understood drivers are set to meet to discuss the guidelines in Qatar, as the document is set to be absorbed into Appendix L of the International Sporting Code in 2025.